One and the Same
by Stella Luce 333
Summary: When Alita is caught staying at Kadic over the summer, an unlikely friendship might just save her life…A Code Lyoko version of "Princess Protection Program." Slightly AU time line.
1. Chapter 1

**Takes place during Season 4.**

Alita's POV:

I think I lost him.

I ducked behind a tree, trying to catch my breath as quietly as I can, just in case that specter was still out there. I pulled out my cell phone to text Jeremy, telling him he'd have to take care of the tower remotely.

When the alert for the tower went off, I had hurried to the factory to find that a specter was destroying the scanners. The only thing to do was to give chase while Jeremy took care of things. We had developed a program to hack into XANA's towers months ago, but we didn't use it much. It was almost always faster for me to go to Lyoko myself than to hack in from the outside…

I was on my own out here.

Even though everybody had offered to stay with me, I had turned them all down. It was summer. They deserve to spend time with their families…

Bark on a nearby tree flew as a bolt of lightning struck. The specter had spotted me, so I took off running.

School had finished about a week ago, so I ran out of the forest onto the school grounds. I had to stall for time…

I ran into the dorm building, heading upstairs. I sprinted down the hallway, feeling a bolt of electricity hit my arm. I cried out, but didn't let it stop me. When I got to the other end, I ran back downstairs & burst out the door. A bolt of electricity hit me in the ankle, & I hit the ground hard. I turned, trying to kick him away, my leg passing right through him…but he had no trouble pulling me up by my collar.

I struggled to get free, even as he sent electricity throughout my body. Dimly, I thought somebody was yelling, but they sounded very far away…

Somebody must have been there, because he dropped me & ran off. For a while I couldn't move, I was just laying there breathing, trying to force myself to get up.

My eyes closed, & when I opened them again, the principal was kneeling next to me.

"Miss Stones! Can you hear me?" Mr. Delmas said. I must have blacked out for a second…

"Yes." I said, slowly sitting up. The specter was gone. Hopefully Jeremy took care of him.

"What happened?" Mr. Delmas demanded. "Who was that guy, & why are you still here? You were supposed to have left days ago!"

"...My plans changed, sir…& I've never seen him before now." I was still slightly out of breath. "I'm staying with Yumi's family."

"I see." he said. "That's strange, because I remember Mrs. Ishiyama speaking to me about having her children take their exams early since they were spending a month in Japan."

I had forgotten about that.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you stay here, not on your own. What if that man who attacked you comes back?"

"I'll be fine." I said, slowly getting to my feet. "I'll find somewhere to go…"

"No, I don't want you to be by yourself, you're only thirteen!" Mr. Delmas said. "I suppose if you have nowhere else to go, you'll have to spend the summer with me & my daughter. I'm sure Sissy would love to spend time with you."

Unable to sway his decision, I went to my room to get my stuff. My only hope was that they lived close enough that I'd still be able to go to Lyoko…

Little did I know that they were spending their summer outside of France…

* * *

**Nothing like writing a summer fic as the weather gets colder, lol…Who knows? Maybe it'll keep me warm…**

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	2. Chapter 2

Sissy's POV:

I woke to the sound of a car door closing. I must have dozed off while I was waiting for Daddy to come home…

I jumped off the sofa, grabbed my keys & unlocked the door before he even had a chance to open it himself.

"Daddy!" I gave him a huge hug.

"Sweetheart." he said. "It's good to see you! You didn't have to stay up so late."

"I know, but I wanted to." I said. This place just felt so empty without him sometimes…

That's when I noticed Alita Stones shyly standing in our doorway.

"What is _she _doing here?" I asked.

"Sissy!" My dad said, with a warning in his tone. Ok, so maybe that wasn't the most polite way to ask, but wasn't she supposed to be in Canada?

"Come on in, Miss Stones. Make yourself comfortable." Daddy said, gently guiding me into the kitchen.

"Well?" I asked. I was still waiting for an answer.

"Her plans had changed suddenly. She was trying to stay at Kadic all by herself, & I couldn't let her do that."

"Well, where is going to sleep?" I asked. "There's only two bedrooms."

"You wanted the double bed for sleepovers, right?"

Darn. That was a good point.

"Sissy, I promise you, everything will be fine." It was hard not to believe him when he said that. "Now, it's been a long flight, so I'll see you in the morning." He hugged me before leaving the kitchen, & I went out to deal with our "guest" for the summer.

"Come on, bedroom's back here." I said. Alita picked up her stuff & followed me.

"Bathroom's down the hall if you need it." I said. I had changed into pajamas earlier, so I pulled the cover back & got into bed.

"…Is there some place I can put my stuff?" Alita asked.

"Well, since I didn't exactly know you were coming, I _suppose_ I'll have to move some stuff in the morning."

Alita set her suitcase down in the corner of the room, pulled out a night shirt, & left to change. I tried to go to sleep, but I couldn't. I was fuming. I didn't want _anybody _from Kadic to know how different things were for me here, especially not one of Ulrick's friends…

Alita came back in a few minutes later. "Sissy, I'm really sorry about this." she said as she laid down on her side of the bed.

"Whatever." I said. "I'm sure your family must have _some _reason for not wanting you this summer." I turned my back to her, closed my eyes, & at least pretended to sleep until sleep actually came…

This summer suddenly seemed pretty bleak…

* * *

**Don't you just hate when life suddenly throws things at you that you weren't expecting (like realizing that you only have three weeks left to finish getting ready for the holidays)?**

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	3. Chapter 3

Alita's POV:

"Good morning." I said, hesitantly, as I entered the kitchen. Sissy was already up & eating breakfast.

"Morning." Sissy said. She still didn't seem happy about my being here, but at least she was talking to me. "Cereal's on the counter if you want some."

I picked up the box, but… "Do you have any bowls?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes & got up, opening one of the cabinets where the bowls were stored. After I poured my cereal, I realized I had another problem. "What about a…?"

With a sigh, she opened a drawer & gave me a spoon. It was like she thought I was a complete idiot for not knowing where the silverware was…

We ate in silence, at least until somebody knocked on the door.

"It's open, you know that." Sissy called out.

"Yeh, but I don't want to just bust in now that your dad's home." Entering the kitchen was a boy about our age. "Who's this?"

"I'm Alita." I said, not wanting to hear how Sissy would have introduced me…if at all.

"I'm Evan." he said. "I live next door. I'm a science fiction enthusiast."

I nodded. I wasn't sure what to say to that.

"He means he's a nerd." Sissy said, finishing the last of her breakfast.

"Hey, I didn't have to twist your arm too much to watch _Outer Space Adventures _last weekend…"

"That's because the captain is hot." Sissy said as she stood. "I'm ready to go if you are."

"Great!" Evan turned to me. "I guess this means you're coming with us? Sissy's uncle can always use some extra help…"

* * *

"Welcome to The Kite Café!" Evan said when we arrived. There were kites everywhere, hanging on the walls & ceiling, catching light from the windows…It was so beautiful & colorful!

After grabbing her apron, Sissy relived the cashier & started ringing up the line of people who were waiting to pay. I was on my own.

"…I guess I'll give you the grand tour." Evan said, handing me an apron. "So, we're too young to actually wait tables, so we basically handle the cash register & take orders from the boardwalk window. At least for most of the morning, then the college kids take over & we get to enjoy the rest of the day."

He led me behind the counter, & lifted a heavy shade, turning the corner into a food counter.

Seeing the amazement on my face, he smiled. "Welcome to Swan Beach, USA."

Directly in front of us was an incredible beach that looked like something from a screensaver, including the palm trees. I stuck my head out & saw that the boardwalk continued for miles in both directions, filled with little shops & cafes like this one…

Loud laughter brought my attention back to the present. A group of kids about our age had knocked over all of their drinks, & they were laughing as they left. They didn't even bother to pick up their cups.

"That would be Ophelia & her friends." Evan said, sensing my question. "Her father owns & runs the rec center, which is where most of the kids in town like to hang out. She's kinda the queen bee around here." He pulled an old rag out from under the counter. "Did I forget to mention we also bus tables?"

I took the rag from him, catching the hint. Sissy was already wiping stuff up when I got there, but it was a huge mess.

"Leave it." she snapped when I started to help. Her tone was so harsh that I backed off.

This was going to be a _long _summer…

* * *

I followed Sissy & Evan down the boardwalk after we finished our shifts. I was taking everything in, not really paying attention to them as they discussed whether to hang out on the beach all day or take the rec center trip to the Marne Science Center…

As we passed by an electronics store, one of the TVs in the window flickered. It was only for a second, but I knew what I saw.

XANA's symbol was on the TV screen.

I gasped, quickening my pace & bumping into Sissy in the process.

"What's with you?" she demanded.

"Nothing." I said, quickly.

I couldn't help but wonder if XANA had figured out that none of us were close by to stop him quickly.

If he did, we were in serious trouble…

* * *

**Happy Holidays! Whatever you're celebrating, I hope you & your loved ones get along better than Sissy & Alita in this chapter!**

**Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

Alita's POV:

"Welcome to Beach Mart!" Evan said. "It's somewhat tacky, but that's part of its charm!" he added in a stage whisper.

I laughed. The three of us had fallen into something of a routine, with Evan & Sissy showing me around Swan Beach after we finished working for the day.

Sissy & I had at least come to an unspoken agreement where we acknowledged each other, but were really nothing more than mostly polite.

I was browsing through a rack of tee shirts when I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. It was a text from Jeremy.

XANA had activated a tower.

I causally looked around for anything strange while I slipped my phone back in my pocket, but it fell on the ground instead. I bent down to pick it up, & suddenly the display next to me fell down, sparking.

I looked up to see a man pointing at me. That burst of electricity had been aimed at _me._

I turned & ran. I didn't see Evan or Sissy anywhere, so hopefully they wouldn't notice that I left. I turned down an aisle at full sped & nearly slammed into Sissy.

"Watch it." she said sharply. I heard a creaking sound behind us, & turned to see the shelves on the other side were leaning towards us. The specter was trying to crush us with it!

I grabbed Sissy & pulled her out of the aisle, seconds before everything came crashing down…but the specter saw us.

"Come on!" I told Sissy, & we ran out of the store. I was starting to figure out the layout of the town, so I started running towards Sissy's home, taking some detours to try & lose the specter. Sissy stayed right with me.

How was I going to explain this?

* * *

"Who _was _that guy?" Sissy asked. We were catching our breath in the living room after having run inside. "I mean, he was shooting _lightning_ at us…" She grabbed an edge of the sofa. "We have to barricade ourselves in, call the police, something!"

I hurried to our bedroom, where I had left my laptop. Jeremy had already started hacking in, but my helping him would speed up the process.

"…Is this really the best time to check your e-mal?" I looked up to see that Sissy had followed me.

"Not now, Sissy. Please." I focused again on my work, tuning out Sissy's ranting…until I heard a crash come from the front door.

"I thought you barricaded us in?" I softly asked Sissy.

"I can't move the sofa by _myself_ you know." she shot back, a little bit louder than necessary.

"Quick, we'll hide in there." I said, pulling Sissy into the closet. It was just big enough that we were able to sit there with the door closed. I got back to work on the tower.

"What _is _all that stuff?" Sissy asked as she looked over my shoulder. I didn't answer…mostly because I heard the bedroom door slam open.

Sissy & I sat in silence, barely breathing…until my laptop beeped. I had access to the tower!

The beep wasn't loud, but it was enough to let the specter know where we were. He opened the closet door as I entered the code. Sissy screamed…

As the specter disappeared.

We sat for a moment, catching our breath.

"What…was…that?" Sissy asked.

I wasn't really sure how to answer that.

Sissy reached over & grabbed my laptop. "Whatever it was, it has something to do with whatever you have on here." She walked over to the bed, sitting down on it with my computer.

"You're not getting this back until you explain. _Everything._"

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**I'm so glad that you guys like the story so far! Now that I've established (almost) everything that needs to be known, it's time to see exactly what XANA has up his sleeve…**

**Please review!**


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